"I felt very strong on the final climb" - Matthew Riccitello takes surprising podium result in stage 7 of Tour de Suisse

UAE Team Emirates continue their parade at Tour de Suisse with Adam Yates and Joao Almeida taking another 1-2 on Villars-sur-Ollon. But behind them an interesting battle for third is underway, with surprising candidate in person of Matthew Riccitello emerging behind the duo.

Riccitello briefly attempted to follow Yates and Almeida on the flanks of the Villars-sur-Ollon climb. But the Israel - Premier Tech rider quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to hold the pace all the way to the finish line, letting go of the pair. But the young American didn't give up and fought to third spot on the day, which sees him enter the top 5 in the general classification with only mountain time trial (climbing up today's ascent again) left to complete.

"It was a very tough day," Riccitello told Eurosport. "I think I'm better when everyone is really tired. That was the case today, I suspect. Yet I also surprised myself a bit. After all, I still felt very strong on the final climb. I tried to follow Adam and Joao, but unfortunately that didn't work. I had to let go."

"After that it became a kind of time trial for me to the finish," continued the 22-year-old climber. "But all in all I can't complain and it was a successful day. This also applied to the previous stages. I performed quite consistently this race, that's all I can say. The team also helped me a lot with that. I am grateful to the boys for that. They keep me in a good position all day long. I'm glad I can pay it back in some way."